Sheldon's Big Surprise
by xenon3000
Summary: Sheldon attempts to surprise Amy to a greater extent than he did on Amy's last birthday. Will he succeed?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: "The Big Bang Theory" belongs to Warner Brothers.**

Sheldon could not sleep. He looked at the clock. It was 4:34 AM.

He looked at Amy. She was fast asleep. Good.

A few hours earlier, Sheldon showed his Amy his diagram of circles of what information he could share with what people. He also revealed to Amy that he had a driver's license.

That was a secret Sheldon wished he would have kept, now that he thought about it. Now Amy would be expecting him to drive more often. And Sheldon was not a good driver. He was too cautious, too slow, especially when parking. And roads with lots of traffic overwhelmed him psychologically.

Sheldon gave up trying to sleep, and decided to get out of bed. Could he get out of bed without waking up Amy?

He proceeded with caution. Slowly he slid his left foot to the ground. His right foot followed slower than his left. Then he carefully sat up. Finally he stood up.

He left the bedroom and walked into the apartment's living room. While his relationship with Amy was better than it had ever been for the most part, he felt that it was on shaky ground because of last night. Maybe he could offer to drive Amy to something and he would do such a poor...No, that wasn't the answer.

He wanted to be a better driver, but how? Maybe virtual reality was the answer. He could buy a PS4 VR or an Oculus Rift headset, and one or more driving games.

Time to do some research.

He booted up his laptop, and looked up the PS4 VR and Oculus Rift on Google. The PS4 VR was cheaper. However, the Oculus Rift was lighter and had higher resolution. Plus, the Oculus Rift was compatible with his laptop.

Now all he needed was a driving game. With the help of Wikipedia, he found one, Euro Truck Simulator 2. It was a game where you drove on city and country streets and had to follow the rules of the road. Perfect. A screenshot showing the in-game on showed that the game had a larger playable area than Grand Theft Auto 5. Even better. So he bought it online via Steam for 20 bucks, only because it did not seem to be available in any store nearby.

The Oculus Rift headset, however, could apparently be purchased at Best Buy. Sheldon did not see when he would have time to go to Best Buy in the near future.

He checked the clock. It was 5:58 AM.

He decided to take the bus to work. So he got dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast, and left a note for Amy. Another pleasant surprise for her, he hoped. Not as big as what he and Amy did on Amy's last birthday, but perhaps the fact that it came on an ordinary day would make it more surprising.

As he waited for the bus, he decided he wanted to do something big for Amy. What he wanted to do, he didn't know yet. But he would have plenty of time to think on the bus ride to work as well as the bus ride home. Amy needed another surprise.

 **To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

Amy woke up at 7:00 AM. She looked to her left and was surprised to see that Sheldon was not by her side. Maybe he got up early and was already eating breakfast.

When Amy hopped out of bed, she found that was not the case. There was a note by her place at the table:

 _Dear Amy,_

 _I left for work early today. I will be taking the bus to and from work today and from now on unless I state otherwise. That way, your daily commute will have one less passenger, and hopefully, will be less burdensome for you. Feel free to call me on my lunch break or e-mail me if you want me to bring anything home. However, I must warn you that your requests should be no larger than eight cubic feet and weigh no more than 50 pounds._

 _I hope you will be able to acclimate to driving to and from work without me. I will see you when I return home for dinner tonight._

 _With infinite love,_

 _Dr. Sheldon Cooper_

Wow. Sheldon seemed to have improved more in the past twelve hours than he had in the past several years. He was genuinely trying to make things easier for her.

Amy smiled. Broadly.

 **There is still more to come...**


	3. Chapter 3

Sheldon arrived at work early, so he decided to do things a little differently.

He skipped eating lunch with Leonard, Raj and Howard. Instead, he decided to investigate ways he could make a surprise that would blow Amy away.

He looked at the CalTech map and the CalTech directory to see if there was a building where he could print out documents on large sheets of paper. Eventually he found a building with an HP DesignJet 800 that could print documents on paper 42 inches long. Now all he needed to do was figure out who to contact to get permission to use it. Hopefully, that person would not say anything to Amy or ask Sheldon too many questions.

When his lunch break ended, Sheldon returned to work. Externally, Sheldon was doing his job. Internally, Sheldon was still trying to come up with ideas on how to impress Amy. He thought hard and got nowhere. So he decided to let Amy do more of what she enjoyed when he got home. That would give him some ideas.

The work day ended. Sheldon took a bus to Best Buy. He tested the Oculus Rift headset and was very impressed. It completely dominated his vision, and there was no lag when he turned his head. So he bought the headset and hopped on the bus home.

He entered the apartment and found Amy was already home.

"Hello, Amy," said Sheldon. "You weren't lonely driving to and from work today, were you?"

"Not at all," responded Amy. "Conversing with people is much easier when I'm not fighting my way through L.A. traffic."

They ate dinner.

"Don't you want to turn on the TV?" Amy asked.

"No, thank you," answered Sheldon. "The news is either depressing or irrelevant, and the fictional programs are so awful I could write a book longer than 'In Search Of Lost Time' on the subject. But if you want some background noise, you could play your violin."

"Gladly!". Amy cheerfully exclaimed.

Sheldon listened to Amy's music as he played Euro Truck Simulator 2. He thought that Amy's harp music was an octillion times better than anything on the radio. Not only that, it helped to calm him as he encountered challenging traffic situations in the game.

When Sheldon decided to call it a night, he thought, _Amy deserves a billion times better than what I've been giving her lately._

 **Keep reading to see what Sheldon does next...**


	4. Chapter 4

For the next several weeks, Sheldon continued to travel to and from work alone. He also continued to listen to Amy's harp music.

When Sheldon got halfway through Euro Truck Simulator 2, he decided to quit playing. At least for the time being.

He recorded Amy's harp music and saved it in multiple locations. The first location was on his laptop. The second location was his iPod. The third location was on an audio CD that he burned.

Sheldon found Amy's harp music helped him relax when he was driving a real car. So he started driving more often.

He also acquired a new hobby-photomanipulation. He started by taking pictures of cars and changing their colors. Then he learned how to add and remove wrinkles, how to clone objects, how to adjust transparency levels, and how to add textures to objects.

Sheldon also started reading Amy's biology textbooks and publications more closely. The more he read the more he enjoyed what he read. Maybe he should have picked biology instead of theoretical physics as his chosen field of study. Or maybe chemistry would be a good idea.

Last but not least, Sheldon decided to find ways to make extra money. He started getting up really early in the morning to record RiffTrax audio commentaries of movies he liked. But he electronically masked his voice so nobody would know it was him.

After about a month and a half, Sheldon was very pleased with the amount of money he made selling his RiffTrax movie commentaries. Now it was time to blow Amy away...

 **Brace yourselves...**


	5. Chapter 5

Amy drove home after a long day at work. It was a Friday, and she could not wait to return home to Sheldon. Sheldon was not only making things easier for her and respecting her more, he was allowing her to be herself. Especially with her harp. She was making up her own songs now instead of just playing songs other people wrote.

In all respects, today felt normal. But for some odd reason, Amy had a feeling that today was going to be truly special.

She walked into the apartment.

What she saw made her gasp.

On the table was a bouquet of roses, roses that appeared to be glowing. Alongside the couch was a greeting card three feet tall with the words "You are so amazing...". And on the table was a brand new harp that was illuminated along the body by green LED lights.

Sheldon entered and said, "Hello, Amy."

"Wow and thank you multiplied by the current national debt," said Amy.

"Open the card," instructed Sheldon.

Amy did, and saw her face multiple times in multiple photos on the left side. Some of them were real, and some of them were humorous photomanipulatons. Amy saw herself as a judge, a surfer, a police officer, a chef, the President Of The United States, and the Queen Of England. On the right side of the card was the text "...I will always love you, no matter what you become."

"I never imagined getting such a big card," remarked Amy.

"Now try out the harp," Sheldon requested.

Amy played every song she created strictly from memory. As she plucked each string, the lights above the strings changed from green to blue.

"What do you think of the harp?" asked Sheldon.

"I love it!" Amy shrieked. "It is the best gift I ever got!"

"Do you feel that the gift is stage worthy?"

"Absolutely! This harp is one of a kind!"

"Good," Sheldon stated with a smile on his face. "Because I've arranged for you to play it on stage at 7:30 PM tomorrow."

 **You thought this would be the end, didn't you? Didn't you? If so, I've succeeded. But I'm not done yet...**


	6. Chapter 6

Amy was stunned. She had made public presentations of her research. She had enjoyed taping episodes of Fun With Flags and Malarkey with Sheldon. But playing her harp on stage in front of hundreds of people? She didn't know if she was ready for that.

However, she did not want to disappoint Sheldon. Sheldon had been making so much effort to be a better boyfriend in the past few months, and the last thing she wanted to do was discourage him.

So she decided to ask a few questions. She hoped that the fear that she felt would not leak into her voice. Maybe it would not be as bad as she thought it would be. Or maybe it was an elaborate joke on Sheldon's behalf.

"W-what gave you the idea that I would be a good concert musician?". Amy stuttered.

"Your music is truly one of a kind," was Sheldon's answer. "The songs you play do not resemble any songs I have heard anyplace else. Also, they helped me to become a better driver. If the songs you play on the harp can help me relax while driving in traffic, imagine what they could do for an audience of 600 people."

"600 people?" Amy gasped. That was a large crowd, larger than any crowd where she was the center of attention. But she had to give Sheldon credit for anticipating and answering one of her questions.

"That's how many tickets were sold as of 5:00 PM today," Sheldon explained. "I hope that number will climb in the next 24 hours."

"Where will I be performing?"

"The Orpehum Theatre."

"What should I wear?"

"You could perform your music wearing a flour sack if you wish. I would listen to your music regardless. However, if you wish to have more elegant attire or have trained professionals work on your hair or your face, I will provide you with three thousand dollars of cash to pay for it."

"I expected you would give me more rules."

"No, it's your music, you have the right to perform it as you see fit, according to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. However, I will request that you be back here by 6:00 PM tomorrow. I would rather get you to your first concert too early than too late."

"Agreed!" Amy exclaimed, hoping her nervousness would be seen as excitement. Sheldon was truly treating her like a princess.

Amy spent the rest of the night practicing with her new harp, and between songs, looking at photos on Google of solo harp performances.

Before going to bed, Amy looked at her maid of honor dress that she wore at Howard and Bernadette's wedding. It looked classy, but not classy enough.

Amy went to bed. She would try to find a nicer dress tomorrow. If all else failed, she would wear her maid of honor dress a second time.

Other nights, Sheldon would be tossing and turning and keeping Amy awake. Amy hoped it would not be the other way around.

Was she really as good a musician as Sheldon believed she was?

Or would she be a catastrophic failure?

 **You're about to find out...**


	7. Chapter 7

Amy awoke the next morning with a mixture of joy and dread.

She continued to practice her songs. She asked Sheldon to reprogram the harp so that if four consecutive strings were plucked, the lights would turn purple.

After eating lunch, she called Bernadette and asked if she could help her find an appropriate dress. Bernadette agreed to help. After about an hour and a half, they picked out a stunning royal blue ball gown with embroidered sleeves and beading.

They returned to Sheldon and Amy's apartment. Amy then called Penny for help with her hair and makeup. Penny did a great job, and for free.

Amy continued to practice her harp while wearing her royal blue ball gown. She wished Sheldon had told her earlier that he had scheduled a concert for her. Then she would have had more time to practice just like she was practicing now, all dressed up, just like she would be at her performance.

At 5:00 PM, Amy drank a few glasses of fruit juice, and ate a ham sandwich and some graham crackers. When she finished eating, she brushed the crumbs off her dress, and looked over the front of her skirt with a handheld microscope to be sure she did not is anything.

At 5:30 PM, Amy used the restroom one last time, brushed her teeth, and used mouthwash.

At 6:00 PM, Sheldon arrived. He was wearing a tuxedo and carrying a velvet box.

"You look more beautiful than all the stars in the North American Nebula," complimented Sheldon. He opened the velvet box and presented Amy with a brand-new necklace. When Amy put on the necklace, Sheldon proceeded to take several pictures of her. Then Sheldon asked Amy to pick up her harp, and together they walked outside.

Sheldon led Amy to the car he rented for this occasion, a jet black Chrysler 300C. Sheldon placed Amy's harp in the back seat, end opened the front passenger door for Amy. Amy climbed in, Sheldon closed the door, and then Sheldon got behind the wheel and they were on their way.

They arrived at the theatre.

Amy took her place on stage.

The curtain opened.

She could not believe her eyes. The theater was filled to capacity. Sheldon was seated in the middle of the front row. He was flanked by Leonard, Howard and Raj on the left, and Penny and Bernadette on the right.

The reality of what she was about to do hit her with full force. So many eyes were on her, expecting something which she was not sure she could deliver. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Her heart was now fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird. She needed to relax.

She took a deep breath in, then out. That helped.

Then she looked away from the audience and at her hands. That helped even more.

She played her first song. While she was calmer, she still felt nervous. She feared that the slightest slip-up would turn the audience against her.

She finished her first song. No audience reaction.

Onto the second song. A few isolated claps.

The third song. Slightly more isolated claps.

She played a fourth song. And a fifth. And a sixth.

And she finally got to her last song. What she heard next astonished her.

The entire audience was applauding.

For almost her entire life, Amy had felt like a total outcast, an individual who could only hope to be understood and respected by a very small circle of people.

Until now.

Amy stood up and bowed. A tear came to her eye. She had never been this happy before, and she never imagined she would be. She hoped no one would notice the two tears trickling down her right cheek.

As if in response to Amy's concern, the curtain lowered.

Amy walked off stage and went to find Sheldon. She ran into Sheldon's arms and hugged him tightly. Sheldon lifted Amy up off her feet and proceeded to twirl Amy. He managed to complete two and a half rotations before they both fell over.

"Are you all right?" Sheldon asked with sincere concern.

"I'm fine," Amy reassured.

"I apologize for dropping you and ruining your special evening."

"Don't be," Amy replied. "Before I fell, I wondered if I was dreaming. Now I know that this is completely real."

 **The End.**

 **Do you think Amy should pursue a career in musical performance in addition to her neurobiology studies? Please let me know when you write your review.**


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